350 Passaic, Somerset residents still in shelters

As officials continue calculating the full impact of last week's devastating rains, more than 350 residents of flood-ravaged towns in Somerset and Passaic counties remained in shelters last night, officials said.

In Bound Brook and Manville, where the Raritan River overflowed its banks last week, scores of houses remain flooded or without electricity, forcing roughly 325 residents to spend last night at Red Cross shelters, officials said.

In Paterson and Wayne, where the Passaic River remains flooded, roughly 40 people slept at shelters. When they do return home, some will find their houses and apartments in ruins, officials said.

"There are people who lost everything," said Grace Zotter of the American Red Cross of Metropolitan New Jersey. "This is their 9/11. This is their Hurricane Katrina."

Statewide, the two-day nor'easter impacted more than 13,500 homes, plus an undetermined number of businesses. Officials have called it New Jersey's biggest April rainfall on record.

Federal inspectors have been working for several days to determine if the storm inflicted enough damage for President Bush to issue a disaster declaration, qualifying residents, municipalities and businesses for federal aide.